This invention pertains to waste treatment, and more particularly, to an enzyme composition for treating waste in septic tanks and other places.
Solid waste buildup in septic systems causes large numbers of septic failures. Clogged household plumbing and grease traps cause backup, blockage and slow running drainpipes. In the commercial sector, there is a need to help move solid waste through the waste treatment process more efficiently and effectively.
Waste digestion compositions have been used in the past for both commercial and home use. These compositions fell far short with respect to initial effectiveness as well as long-lasting efficacy. The very first of these was a simple cake of yeast. Although being a saprophytic microbe, it was almost completely useless. Yeasts digest only carbohydrates which represent less than five percent of the solids in a septic tank.
Other saprophytic microbes have been utilized in septic tank cleanup, such as aerobes at the stage of high oxygenation, or anaerobes at the stage of no oxygenation. Although proving effective over long periods of usage, difficulty in establishing sufficient populations gave rise to long spans of time from the time the microbe product was added to the system to the time they established themselves as normal flora.
Homeowners have tried the addition of large amounts of acids, lye or caustic compounds. This may temporarily burn away some of the clogging material, but the ultimate result is damaging. Such chemicals kill bacteria on contact, and that puts an end to their liquefying process that septic tanks and cesspools depend on. Furthermore, this procedure loosens chunks of solids that can flow into the drainage pipes and cause blockage. Caustics also kill ground organisms that become useless in the job of purifying the seeping effluent. Caustics change soil structure, breaking down the soil into finer particles that pack together, reducing the ability of the septic tank or cesspool effluent to seep into the soil. When the bacteria within a septic tank or cesspool are abused or destroyed, a decrease occurs in the digestive and liquefaction ability of organic material that the household flushes into the waste disposal system. The solids rise to a point that blocks the inlet-outlet pipes. When these pipes get clogged, the waste material of the household cannot be flushed out. Sinks, tubs, and toilets backup and overflow occurs.
Enzymes have found many uses in modern industry, such as: processing textiles and paper coatings, wine and fruit juice production, converting corn syrup into fructose to double its sweetness, separating pectins from apple juice, conversions of starch to sugars to alcohol to vinegar, and lactic acid production.
Prior enzyme compositions for sewage treatment contained 15% by weight, ground corn cob filler that proved to be most detrimental to septic systems by compounding the problem the formulation was developed to alleviate. Corn cob filler also tended to clog septic tanks and drains. Prior enzyme compositions also contained at least 26% by weight enzymes, which is an excessive amount of enzymes. It was thought that a greater concentration of enzyme would produce a more efficacious product with the high corn cob filler content. This proved not to be the case and eventually too cost prohibitive.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved composition for use in waste treatment, which overcomes most, if not all, of the preceding problems.